14th May, 2012
A Leader of Hausa Community in Abia, Alhaji Mohammed Umaru has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to jettison plans to dialogue with the Boko Haram group.
Umaru, who is the Public Relations Officer of Northern Community in Abia, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Umuahia on Sunday.
He said that dialoguing with the group would be counter-productive as it would explore the opportunity to re-organise and cause more havoc.
“Islamic religion does not preach the killing of human beings, anybody who kills in the name of Islam is not a true Muslim. In Islam, Allah tells us not to kill anybody and anybody who kills his fellow human being be it a Christian or Muslim, will go to hell fire straight,’’ he said.
He said that members of the Boko Haram were aware that God condemns their activities in Nigeria.
He added that unlike the Niger Delta militants, the group did not have genuine reason that would warrant government’s attention.
“The Niger Delta militants’ agitation was because of unfair treatment to the oil producing communities. The Federal Government asked them to drop arms, and then looked into their requests which led to the creation of Niger Delta Ministry, among other things. For the Boko Haram, they do not want to take advantage of the media to tell the world what their problems are, rather they continue to kill Christians and Muslims, they kill Igbos, Yorubas, and Hausas so their motive is evil,’’ he said.
Umaru,who was the former Special Adviser to Abia Governor on Cattle Matters, appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to break his silence on the incessant killings and destruction of lives and properties of Nigerians and tackle the matter head-on.
“At a time, government said they knew those sponsoring the Boko Haram group. If Mr President knows any person fingered as sponsor of the group, Dr Jonathan should muster the courage to deal with such evil person. It is not good for Mr President to be afraid of anybody, but God almighty,’’ he said.
Recalling the era when kidnapping was rampant in Abia, Umaru said that Abia Governor took the bull by the horn and flushed out the criminal elements and urged the Federal Government to take such step.
He also advised governors in Nigeria, especially those in the North to always utilise their security votes for the purpose it was meant to tackle the rising wave of insecurity.
“In international peace keeping, Nigeria police, the military and the State Security Service are rated among the best in the world, but at home they cannot perform because of poor funding. If governors should spend 80 per cent of their security votes judiciously, we all will be sleeping with our eyes closed in Nigeria,’’ he said.
Umaru said that members of Hausa community in Abia were monitoring the infiltration of strangers within their domain with the intention of alerting the security if any suspicious character was noticed.